Reviewed TV shows and movies

Friday, June 14, 2013

Friendship, loyalty, lifelong love -- and teenage suicide. A riveting,
timely, and terrifying novel from an acclaimed writer who skillfully
intertwines the intimate perceptions of Anne Tyler with the dramatic
tension of John Grisham
The Golds and the Hartes, neighbors for
eighteen years, have always been inseparable. So have their children-and
it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship
blossoms into something more. But the bonds of family, friendship, and
passion-which had seemed so indestructible -- suddenly threaten to
unravel in the wake of unexpected tragedy.
When midnight calls
from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the truth. Emily is dead
at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent
bullet in the gun that Chris pilfered from his father's cabinet-a bullet
that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective
has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris describes.
This
extraordinary, heart-rending novel asks questions that every parent
faces: How much do we know about our children? Our friends? What if . . .? As its chapters unfold, alternating between an idyllic past and an unthinkable present, The Pact
paints an indelible portrait of families in anguish . . . and creates
an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama, as Chris finds himself on
trial for murder.
It's rare to find a writer who combines Alice
Hoffman's gift for evoking everyday life in pellucid prose with a
remarkable ability to create a legal page-turner that will keep you up
all night reading, but this is such a book. The Pact rings true: wonderfully observed, truly moving, frightening, and utterly impossible to put down.